The present invention relates generally to methods for delivering educational content to classrooms. More particularly, the present invention includes a method for applying standards, project-based learning, and non-sequential, interactive presentation to adapt generic educational materials for use in different states and regions and improve the level of understanding and learning of such generic material.
Providing educational materials for use in classrooms is a difficult and expensive process. This is attributable, at least in part, to the increasing number of student performance standards that must be met while using these materials. In the United States, for example, the content of educational materials may be regulated at the federal, state, and local levels. Making a textbook (or other educational instrument) that relates to the relevant student performance standards that apply to a particular location can be complex. Making the same textbook satisfy such standards for a range of locations, in different localities and states, may be nearly impossible.
For these reasons and others, a need exists for systems that allow relevant performance standards to be readily addressed by educational materials. To be effective, such systems should support the adaptation of educational materials to a wide range of different locales. Such systems should be easy to use for a wide range of users, including teachers and other educational professionals, and be minimal in cost.
The present invention includes a system and method for correlating student performance standards to generic educational materials for use in different states and regions. For a typical embodiment, participating classrooms are equipped with interactive appliances. Each interactive appliance works in combination with a television or other display device. The interactive appliances have network interfaces to access the Internet and World Wide Web. Each interactive appliance also includes a playback device for a DVD or other mass storage/retrieval media. Operation of the interactive appliance is controlled using an interface program.
One or more DVD disks are distributed to each participating classroom. Each disk contains a litany of video and audio assets. Each asset is selected for its educational value. Typical video assets might include a series of moving and still pictures depicting weather or other natural conditions for example.
The assets included in the DVD disks are augmented by one or more supplemental websites. The supplemental website(s) include(s) a series of lesson plans that are organized to use the assets included on the DVD disks. The supplemental website(s) may also include its (their) own audio and video assets that may also be used as part of the lesson plans.
Teachers in participating classrooms use the interactive appliance to present interactive multimedia-based lessons to students. The lessons include text (typically taken from the supplemental website(s)) with audio and video assets (typically taken from the DVD disks). Lessons may also include links to other websites that contain educational materials wherever those sites are located on the World Wide Web.
Each interactive appliance executes an initialization sequence before beginning the lesson process. This initialization sequence can be executed as part of the system power-on or at any other suitable time. As part of the initialization sequence, each interactive appliance identifies the locality in which it is operating. For most embodiments, this determination is made interactively by querying the teacher using the interactive appliance. For other embodiments, the determination of locality may be made using different techniques.
Once the locality of operation has been identified, each interactive appliance executes a search. The search is directed at a series of websites that are known to include educational performance standards. The search returns educational performance standards that apply to the identified locality of operation.
Teachers use the locally relevant educational performance standards returned by the search to select an appropriate lesson plan included on the supplemental website. This allows teachers to present lesson plans that are consistent with and will assist students in meeting the educational performance standards that apply to their localities.
Other aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following descriptions and accompanying drawings.